European countries France and Italy&nbsp;suspended&nbsp;the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine over safety fears on Monday.

Several EU countries have called a halt to the&nbsp;AstraZeneca&nbsp;vaccine after reports from Denmark and Norway of possible serious side-effects, including bleeding and blood clots.

The WHO said its advisory panel was reviewing reports related to the shot and would release its findings as soon as possible. But it said it was unlikely to change its recommendations, issued last month, for widespread use, including in countries where the South African variant of the virus may reduce its efficacy.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/germany-suspends-astrazeneca-jabs-over-reported-clot-risks-health-ministry-370703" hreflang="en">Germany suspends AstraZeneca jabs over reported clot risks: Health Ministry</a>

"As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

AstraZeneca's shot was among the first and cheapest to be developed and launched at volume since the coronavirus was first identified in central China at the end of 2019 and is set to be the mainstay of vaccination programmes in much of the developing world. The virus has killed more than 2.7 million people.

Thailand became the first country outside Europe to delay rolling out the vaccine on Friday, when its political leaders were due to have the first shots, but the government said on Monday they would receive the&nbsp;AstraZeneca&nbsp;vaccine on Tuesday.

Indonesia, however, said it would delay administering the shot due to the reports of blood clots among some recipients in Europe and would await a review from the WHO.

The WHO had already said there was no indication the events were caused by the vaccination, a view also expressed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which said the number of reported blood clots was no higher than seen in the general population.

The handful of reported side-effects in Europe have upset vaccination programmes already under pressure over slow rollouts and vaccine scepticism in some countries.

The Netherlands said on Monday it had seen 10 cases of possible noteworthy adverse side-effects from the&nbsp;AstraZeneca&nbsp;vaccine, hours after the government put its vaccination programme on hold following reports of potential side-effects in other countries.

Denmark reported "highly unusual" symptoms in a 60-year-old citizen who died from a blood clot after receiving the vaccine, the same phrase used on Saturday by Norway about three people under the age of 50 it said were being treated in hospital.

"It was an unusual course of illness around the death that made the Danish Medicines Agency react," the agency said in a statement late on Sunday.

AstraZeneca&nbsp;Plc said earlier it had conducted a review covering more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and the UK which had shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.

European countries France and Italy suspended the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine over safety fears on Monday. Several EU countries have called a halt to the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports from Denmark and Norway of possible serious side-effects, including bleeding and blood clots.

European countries France and Italy suspended the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine over safety fears on Monday. Several EU countries have called a halt to the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports from Denmark and Norway of possible serious side-effects, including bleeding and blood clots. The WHO said its advisory panel was reviewing reports related to the shot and would release its findings as soon as possible. But it said it was unlikely to change its recommendations, issued last month, for widespread use, including in countries where the South African variant of the virus may reduce its efficacy. Also read: Germany suspends AstraZeneca jabs over reported clot risks: Health Ministry "As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said. AstraZeneca's shot was among the first and cheapest to be developed and launched at volume since the coronavirus was first identified in central China at the end of 2019 and is set to be the mainstay of vaccination programmes in much of the developing world. The virus has killed more than 2.7 million people. Thailand became the first country outside Europe to delay rolling out the vaccine on Friday, when its political leaders were due to have the first shots, but the government said on Monday they would receive the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday. Indonesia, however, said it would delay administering the shot due to the reports of blood clots among some recipients in Europe and would await a review from the WHO. The WHO had already said there was no indication the events were caused by the vaccination, a view also expressed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which said the number of reported blood clots was no higher than seen in the general population. The handful of reported side-effects in Europe have upset vaccination programmes already under pressure over slow rollouts and vaccine scepticism in some countries. The Netherlands said on Monday it had seen 10 cases of possible noteworthy adverse side-effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine, hours after the government put its vaccination programme on hold following reports of potential side-effects in other countries. Denmark reported "highly unusual" symptoms in a 60-year-old citizen who died from a blood clot after receiving the vaccine, the same phrase used on Saturday by Norway about three people under the age of 50 it said were being treated in hospital. "It was an unusual course of illness around the death that made the Danish Medicines Agency react," the agency said in a statement late on Sunday. AstraZeneca Plc said earlier it had conducted a review covering more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and the UK which had shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.

France, Italy suspend use of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine

Senior members of the Taliban will attend talks with the Kabul government in Moscow this week to discuss the future of war-ravaged Afghanistan, the insurgent group said on Monday.

The two sides are due to meet at Russia's invitation ahead of a May deadline for US President Joe Biden to decide whether to end the two-decade military involvement in the ravaged country.

Washington has encouraged the Afghan leadership to work towards establishing an "inclusive" government and peace accord amid fears of rapid Taliban gains once US troops leave.

"A high-level delegation of 10 members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led by (Taliban co-founder) Mullah Baradar Akhund... will attend the meeting held in Moscow," tweeted Mohammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban office in Qatar.

The United States, despite tensions with Russia, has welcomed Moscow's role and also consulted its other rival China as diplomacy steps up.

Biden is wrapping up a review on whether to stick to an agreement with the Taliban negotiated by his predecessor Donald Trump who wanted to pull the last US troops from Afghanistan by May.

The Biden administration has signalled that it wants to take a hard look at Trump's deal and its repercussions for Afghanistan and regional stability.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote a letter to Afghan leaders encouraging them to consider a "new, inclusive government".

He also proposed that talks take place within weeks in Turkey to seal a comprehensive peace deal with the Taliban.

Turkey plans to host an Afghan peace conference in Istanbul in April, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu&nbsp;said last week.

The Russian and Turkish initiatives will run alongside the Qatar-hosted talks between the Afghan government in Doha which have been ongoing with long pauses since September 2020. &nbsp;

Cavusoglu has signalled that he did not necessarily expect the Istanbul meeting to produce an immediate breakthrough.

Senior members of the Taliban will attend talks with the Kabul government in Moscow this week to discuss the future of war-ravaged Afghanistan, the insurgent group said on Monday.

Senior members of the Taliban will attend talks with the Kabul government in Moscow this week to discuss the future of war-ravaged Afghanistan, the insurgent group said on Monday. The two sides are due to meet at Russia's invitation ahead of a May deadline for US President Joe Biden to decide whether to end the two-decade military involvement in the ravaged country. Washington has encouraged the Afghan leadership to work towards establishing an "inclusive" government and peace accord amid fears of rapid Taliban gains once US troops leave. "A high-level delegation of 10 members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, led by (Taliban co-founder) Mullah Baradar Akhund... will attend the meeting held in Moscow," tweeted Mohammad Naeem, spokesman for the Taliban office in Qatar. The United States, despite tensions with Russia, has welcomed Moscow's role and also consulted its other rival China as diplomacy steps up. Biden is wrapping up a review on whether to stick to an agreement with the Taliban negotiated by his predecessor Donald Trump who wanted to pull the last US troops from Afghanistan by May. The Biden administration has signalled that it wants to take a hard look at Trump's deal and its repercussions for Afghanistan and regional stability. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote a letter to Afghan leaders encouraging them to consider a "new, inclusive government". He also proposed that talks take place within weeks in Turkey to seal a comprehensive peace deal with the Taliban. Turkey plans to host an Afghan peace conference in Istanbul in April, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week. The Russian and Turkish initiatives will run alongside the Qatar-hosted talks between the Afghan government in Doha which have been ongoing with long pauses since September 2020. Cavusoglu has signalled that he did not necessarily expect the Istanbul meeting to produce an immediate breakthrough.

Taliban to attend Afghan peace talks in Moscow

Astronomers have detected&nbsp;how many interstellar objects may be visiting our solar system, in a recent study.

The research conducted by Cornell University shows interstellar objects (ISOs) passing through the solar system can be directly observed by Earth-based telescopes and potentially explored at close range by spacecraft.

The aim of the study was to find&nbsp;additional ISOs and planning missions to intercept or rendezvous with these bodies will greatly benefit from the knowledge of their likely orbits and arrival rates.

Also read|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/occams-razor-harvard-astronomer-says-that-alien-vessel-paid-us-a-visit-362060">'Occam's razor': Harvard astronomer says that alien vessel paid us a visit</a>

&nbsp;

The feasibility of reaching interstellar objects passing through the solar system has been assessed with specific missions to the interstellar objects 1I/’Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov,&nbsp;&nbsp;the first InterStellar Objects (ISOs) discovered passing through the solar system.

Observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and others show that the object is moving faster than predicted while leaving the Solar System.

Researchers assume that venting material from its surface due to solar heating is responsible for this behaviour. This outgassing can be seen in this artist’s impression as a subtle cloud being ejected from the side of the object facing the Sun. As outgassing is a behaviour typical for comets, the team thinks that `Oumuamua’s previous classification as an interstellar asteroid has to be corrected.

Such missions are feasible with more massive spacecraft (100 kg or larger) using existing rockets and technologies either if they can be initiated around the time of perihelion passage, for example, by a Comet Interceptor type mission or by using a combination of planetary flybys and solar Oberth manoeuvres (rocket accelerations at high speed close to the Sun) to overtake the ISO as it retreats from the Sun.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientists-identify-surprising-similarities-between-humans-and-strange-creatures-from-550-million-years-ago-369169" hreflang="en">Scientists identify surprising similarities between humans and strange creatures from 550 million years ago</a>

Marshall Eubanks, the lead author of the study said&nbsp;"[J]ust by proving that they exist, it has had a profound impact, creating a field of study almost from nothing (a field that funding authorities are just beginning to recognize).''

He added, ''Interstellar Objects provide us with the opportunity to study, and in the future literally touch, exobodies decades before the earliest possible missions to even the nearest stars, such as Proxima Centauri."

As per the study, led by researchers from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is), roughly seven ISOs enter our Solar System every year and follow predictable orbits while they visit the Earth.

The study of 'Oumuamua in October of 2017 was not only was this an object that had formed in another star system, but its arrival and detection implied a large population of such objects.

The detection of 2I/Borisov in 2019 confirmed that ISOs enter our Solar System on a pretty regular basis.

Asteroid surveys may have a streak limit, a limit on the acceptance of fast-moving small objects, in order to reduce confusion with terrestrial satellites.

Interstellar objects likely formed very far from the solar system in both time and space; their direct exploration will constrain the formation and history of small bodies, situating them within the dynamical assembly and chemical evolution of the Galaxy. The velocities of many of these objects in the solar system will make their detection and their exploration by spacecraft challenging, but not impossible with present and near-future technology.

If the number of density estimates based on the discovery of 1I/’Oumuamua are even approximately correct, there should be a number of 1I-type interstellar objects in the solar system at any one time.

Even a fast flyby of an ISO passing through the solar system would be scientifically very rewarding, especially if the object can be subjected to the analysis of impact signatures.

Unfortunately, 2I-type interstellar comets appear to be much rarer, which a much smaller infall rate, and will probably be a once in a decade phenomena.

Astronomers have detected how many interstellar objects may be visiting our solar system, in a recent study. The research conducted by Cornell University shows interstellar objects (ISOs) passing through the solar system can be directly observed by Earth-based telescopes and potentially explored at close range by spacecraft.

Astronomers have detected how many interstellar objects may be visiting our solar system, in a recent study. The research conducted by Cornell University shows interstellar objects (ISOs) passing through the solar system can be directly observed by Earth-based telescopes and potentially explored at close range by spacecraft. The aim of the study was to find additional ISOs and planning missions to intercept or rendezvous with these bodies will greatly benefit from the knowledge of their likely orbits and arrival rates. Also read| 'Occam's razor': Harvard astronomer says that alien vessel paid us a visit The feasibility of reaching interstellar objects passing through the solar system has been assessed with specific missions to the interstellar objects 1I/’Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov, the first InterStellar Objects (ISOs) discovered passing through the solar system. Observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and others show that the object is moving faster than predicted while leaving the Solar System. Researchers assume that venting material from its surface due to solar heating is responsible for this behaviour. This outgassing can be seen in this artist’s impression as a subtle cloud being ejected from the side of the object facing the Sun. As outgassing is a behaviour typical for comets, the team thinks that `Oumuamua’s previous classification as an interstellar asteroid has to be corrected. Such missions are feasible with more massive spacecraft (100 kg or larger) using existing rockets and technologies either if they can be initiated around the time of perihelion passage, for example, by a Comet Interceptor type mission or by using a combination of planetary flybys and solar Oberth manoeuvres (rocket accelerations at high speed close to the Sun) to overtake the ISO as it retreats from the Sun. Also read: Scientists identify surprising similarities between humans and strange creatures from 550 million years ago Marshall Eubanks, the lead author of the study said "[J]ust by proving that they exist, it has had a profound impact, creating a field of study almost from nothing (a field that funding authorities are just beginning to recognize).'' He added, ''Interstellar Objects provide us with the opportunity to study, and in the future literally touch, exobodies decades before the earliest possible missions to even the nearest stars, such as Proxima Centauri." As per the study, led by researchers from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is), roughly seven ISOs enter our Solar System every year and follow predictable orbits while they visit the Earth. The study of 'Oumuamua in October of 2017 was not only was this an object that had formed in another star system, but its arrival and detection implied a large population of such objects. The detection of 2I/Borisov in 2019 confirmed that ISOs enter our Solar System on a pretty regular basis. Asteroid surveys may have a streak limit, a limit on the acceptance of fast-moving small objects, in order to reduce confusion with terrestrial satellites. Interstellar objects likely formed very far from the solar system in both time and space; their direct exploration will constrain the formation and history of small bodies, situating them within the dynamical assembly and chemical evolution of the Galaxy. The velocities of many of these objects in the solar system will make their detection and their exploration by spacecraft challenging, but not impossible with present and near-future technology. If the number of density estimates based on the discovery of 1I/’Oumuamua are even approximately correct, there should be a number of 1I-type interstellar objects in the solar system at any one time. Even a fast flyby of an ISO passing through the solar system would be scientifically very rewarding, especially if the object can be subjected to the analysis of impact signatures. Unfortunately, 2I-type interstellar comets appear to be much rarer, which a much smaller infall rate, and will probably be a once in a decade phenomena.

Astronomers detect how many interstellar objects may be visiting our solar system

The&nbsp;Vatican&nbsp;said on Monday that priests and other Roman Catholic Church ministers cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are "not licit" if carried out.

The ruling was a response to practices in some countries, such as the United States and Germany, where parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and calls for bishops to defacto institutionalise these.

In response to formal questions from a number of dioceses on whether this practice was allowed, the&nbsp;Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), issued the ruling: "Negative".

Pope Francis approved the response, the CDF said, adding that it was "not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite".

It said such blessings were not permissible even though they were "motivated by a sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons" and help them grow in the faith. The Roman Catholic Church has 1.3 billion members.

The CDF note said that since marriage between a man and a woman was a sacrament and blessings are related to the sacrament of marriage, they could not be extended to same-sex couples.

"For this reason, it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex," it said.

At least two German bishops, including Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, who is one of the pope's top advisors, have expressed support for some kind of "pastoral" blessing for same-sex unions.

But the CDF note approved by the pope ruled this out.

"The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan," the note said.

The Church teaches that gay tendencies are not sinful but gay acts are and that gay people must be treated with respect.

Last year, the&nbsp;Vatican&nbsp;had to move to clarify comment attributed to Pope Francis on civil union laws in a documentary, saying they were taken out of context and did not signal a change in Church doctrine on gay people or support for same-sex marriage.

The comments attributed to the pope in the film alarmed conservatives.

Reporters later discovered that two separate quotes in response to separate questions were spliced to appear as one, deleting the intervening context and questions.

The Vatican said on Monday that priests and other Roman Catholic Church ministers cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are "not licit" if carried out.

The Vatican said on Monday that priests and other Roman Catholic Church ministers cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are "not licit" if carried out. The ruling was a response to practices in some countries, such as the United States and Germany, where parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and calls for bishops to defacto institutionalise these. In response to formal questions from a number of dioceses on whether this practice was allowed, the Vatican's doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), issued the ruling: "Negative". Pope Francis approved the response, the CDF said, adding that it was "not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite". It said such blessings were not permissible even though they were "motivated by a sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons" and help them grow in the faith. The Roman Catholic Church has 1.3 billion members. The CDF note said that since marriage between a man and a woman was a sacrament and blessings are related to the sacrament of marriage, they could not be extended to same-sex couples. "For this reason, it is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex," it said. At least two German bishops, including Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich, who is one of the pope's top advisors, have expressed support for some kind of "pastoral" blessing for same-sex unions. But the CDF note approved by the pope ruled this out. "The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan," the note said. The Church teaches that gay tendencies are not sinful but gay acts are and that gay people must be treated with respect. Last year, the Vatican had to move to clarify comment attributed to Pope Francis on civil union laws in a documentary, saying they were taken out of context and did not signal a change in Church doctrine on gay people or support for same-sex marriage. The comments attributed to the pope in the film alarmed conservatives. Reporters later discovered that two separate quotes in response to separate questions were spliced to appear as one, deleting the intervening context and questions.

In setback for gay Catholics, Vatican says church cannot bless same-sex unions

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After Quad summit, China says no 'exclusive cliques' should be formed Biden launches 'Help is Here' tour to promote stimulus package in key states Taiwan advise

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Top 10 world news today: China reacts on Quad summit, Biden launches 'Help is Here' tour and more

China on Monday said&nbsp;that no "exclusive cliques" should be formed as it accused some countries of trying to "drive a wedge" among regional nations referring to the&nbsp;first virtual Quad summit.

The&nbsp;United States, India, Australia and Japan held their first virtual summit on Friday during which President Joe Biden told leaders of the coalition that a "free and open" Indo-Pacific is essential to their countries and vowed that his country was committed to working with its partners and allies in the region to achieve stability.&nbsp;

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the virtual summit alongside Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

"Relevant countries should abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, do not form exclusive cliques and act in a way conducive to solidarity, unity, regional peace and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here.

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He was answering a question about the first Leaders' Summit of the Quad countries and the reported remarks by US National Secretary Advisor Jake Sullivan that the four leaders discussed the challenge posed by China and said all four believed the democracies could help compete with autocracy.

"For some time, some countries have been exaggerating the so-called 'China threat'.&nbsp;China challenges to drive a wedge among regional countries to sow discord between their relations with China,''&nbsp;Zhao said.

&nbsp;"The state-to-state exchanges and cooperation should be conducive for improving mutual understanding and trust among the countries and should not be targeted against and undermine the interests of third parties," he said.

Zhao also reacted angrily to reported remarks by US Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin that the goal of the US and its key allies is to ensure that they have the capabilities, operational plans and concepts to offer credible deterrence to China or anybody else who wants to take on America.

"In the era of globalisation, the practice of forming cliques against specific countries based on ideology is detrimental to the international order," Zhao said. "They will gain no support and end up nowhere," he said. 
"The US should adopt the right mindset, view China and China-US relations in an objective and rational way, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, work with China, focus on cooperation and manage differences to bring China-US relations back on track for sound and stable development,''&nbsp;he said.

He said China has been promoting world peace and contributing to the development and defending the international order.

"A growing China would only mean a greater strength for peace. It is an opportunity rather than a challenge to the world. China firmly upholds the international system with the UN at its core and international order based on international law rather than the international order defined by certain countries to save their hegemony," he said.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit India this week along with Japan and South Korea, in the first overseas trip of a senior member of the new Biden Administration.

China on Monday said that no "exclusive cliques" should be formed as it accused some countries of trying to "drive a wedge" among regional nations referring to the first virtual Quad summit.

China on Monday said that no "exclusive cliques" should be formed as it accused some countries of trying to "drive a wedge" among regional nations referring to the first virtual Quad summit. The United States, India, Australia and Japan held their first virtual summit on Friday during which President Joe Biden told leaders of the coalition that a "free and open" Indo-Pacific is essential to their countries and vowed that his country was committed to working with its partners and allies in the region to achieve stability. Also read: US secretary of state, defence secretary makes overseas debut with Japan visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the virtual summit alongside Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. "Relevant countries should abandon the Cold War mentality and ideological bias, do not form exclusive cliques and act in a way conducive to solidarity, unity, regional peace and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here. He was answering a question about the first Leaders' Summit of the Quad countries and the reported remarks by US National Secretary Advisor Jake Sullivan that the four leaders discussed the challenge posed by China and said all four believed the democracies could help compete with autocracy. "For some time, some countries have been exaggerating the so-called 'China threat'. China challenges to drive a wedge among regional countries to sow discord between their relations with China,'' Zhao said. "The state-to-state exchanges and cooperation should be conducive for improving mutual understanding and trust among the countries and should not be targeted against and undermine the interests of third parties," he said. Zhao also reacted angrily to reported remarks by US Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin that the goal of the US and its key allies is to ensure that they have the capabilities, operational plans and concepts to offer credible deterrence to China or anybody else who wants to take on America. "In the era of globalisation, the practice of forming cliques against specific countries based on ideology is detrimental to the international order," Zhao said. "They will gain no support and end up nowhere," he said. "The US should adopt the right mindset, view China and China-US relations in an objective and rational way, stop interfering in China's internal affairs, work with China, focus on cooperation and manage differences to bring China-US relations back on track for sound and stable development,'' he said. He said China has been promoting world peace and contributing to the development and defending the international order. "A growing China would only mean a greater strength for peace. It is an opportunity rather than a challenge to the world. China firmly upholds the international system with the UN at its core and international order based on international law rather than the international order defined by certain countries to save their hegemony," he said. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit India this week along with Japan and South Korea, in the first overseas trip of a senior member of the new Biden Administration.

After Quad summit, China says no 'exclusive cliques' should be formed

US&nbsp;Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Tokyo on Monday, starting a four-day visit to the region,&nbsp;highlighting Washington's renewed focus on alliances in Indo-Pacific in the face of assertive China.

Blinken and Austin will meet Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi in what is known as the 2+2 talks.

The U.S. And others share the values and principles of keeping an open Indo-Pacific region, but China is ''all too willing to use coercion to get its way,''&nbsp;the two ministers said.

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The visit, from March 15 to 18, to Tokyo and Seoul is the first overseas trip by top cabinet members of President Joe Biden's administration and follows last week's Quad alliance summit of the leaders of the US, Japan, Australia and India.

Issues on the agenda range from freedom of navigation in the South and East China Seas and semiconductor supply-chain security to the North Korean nuclear issue and a military coup in Myanmar, experts say.

The Quad summit pledged to work to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, a major priority for Tokyo, and cooperate on maritime, cyber and economic security in the face of challenges from Beijing.

"The most important thing that's going to happen on this trip is that Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin are making Japan and Korea (and India for Secretary Austin) the first steps on their first trip to the region," said Brian Harding, a Southeast Asia expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

"So, by touching down in Tokyo, in a lot of ways, it'll already be successful, and sends an incredibly powerful signal about the priorities of this administration."

Analysts also expect Tokyo to seek U.S. support for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and follow-up talks on other subjects that figured at the Quad summit, such as the commitment to boost COVID-19 vaccine supplies in Asia and climate change.

The secretaries are expected to make a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is set to visit the White House as the first foreign leader to meet Biden in April.

The US&nbsp;will ''lead with diplomacy, maintain America's military might and renew our alliances and ensure they're fit for purpose to address the threats and opportunities of our time," Blinken and Austin wrote. Together they can hold China accountable for its human rights abuses and other problems in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan, they said.

Japan and the US&nbsp;Are also expected to reaffirm the importance of their three-way alliance with South Korea and may touch on the strained relations between Tokyo and Seoul over wartime compensation issues.

In a move meant to signal his intention for the US&nbsp;to return to more engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, Biden on Friday held a first summit of the leaders from Australia, Japan, India and the U.S. Known as the ''Quad''&nbsp;virtually and emphasised Washington's commitment to the region.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Tokyo on Monday, starting a four-day visit to the region, highlighting Washington's renewed focus on alliances in Indo-Pacific in the face of assertive China.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Tokyo on Monday, starting a four-day visit to the region, highlighting Washington's renewed focus on alliances in Indo-Pacific in the face of assertive China. Blinken and Austin will meet Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi in what is known as the 2+2 talks. The U.S. And others share the values and principles of keeping an open Indo-Pacific region, but China is ''all too willing to use coercion to get its way,'' the two ministers said. The visit, from March 15 to 18, to Tokyo and Seoul is the first overseas trip by top cabinet members of President Joe Biden's administration and follows last week's Quad alliance summit of the leaders of the US, Japan, Australia and India. Issues on the agenda range from freedom of navigation in the South and East China Seas and semiconductor supply-chain security to the North Korean nuclear issue and a military coup in Myanmar, experts say. The Quad summit pledged to work to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, a major priority for Tokyo, and cooperate on maritime, cyber and economic security in the face of challenges from Beijing. "The most important thing that's going to happen on this trip is that Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin are making Japan and Korea (and India for Secretary Austin) the first steps on their first trip to the region," said Brian Harding, a Southeast Asia expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace. "So, by touching down in Tokyo, in a lot of ways, it'll already be successful, and sends an incredibly powerful signal about the priorities of this administration." Analysts also expect Tokyo to seek U.S. support for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and follow-up talks on other subjects that figured at the Quad summit, such as the commitment to boost COVID-19 vaccine supplies in Asia and climate change. The secretaries are expected to make a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is set to visit the White House as the first foreign leader to meet Biden in April. The US will ''lead with diplomacy, maintain America's military might and renew our alliances and ensure they're fit for purpose to address the threats and opportunities of our time," Blinken and Austin wrote. Together they can hold China accountable for its human rights abuses and other problems in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan, they said. Japan and the US Are also expected to reaffirm the importance of their three-way alliance with South Korea and may touch on the strained relations between Tokyo and Seoul over wartime compensation issues. In a move meant to signal his intention for the US to return to more engagement in the Asia-Pacific region, Biden on Friday held a first summit of the leaders from Australia, Japan, India and the U.S. Known as the ''Quad'' virtually and emphasised Washington's commitment to the region.

US secretary of state, defence secretary arrive in Japan for China-focused talks

Astronomers have detected a ''restless''&nbsp;supermassive blackhole wandering in space, in a recent&nbsp;study.

The research published in the Astrophysical Journal was conducted by scientists at the Center for Astrophysics: Harvard and Smithsonian.

For their search, the team initially surveyed 10 distant galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their cores. They specifically studied black holes that contained water within their accretion disks — the spiral structures that spin inward towards the black hole.

As the water orbits around the black hole, it produces a laser-like beam of radio light known as a maser. When studied with a combined network of radio antennas using a technique known as very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), masers can help measure a black hole's velocity very precisely, Pesce says.

The technique helped the team determine that nine of the 10 supermassive black holes were at rest—but one stood out and seemed to be in motion.

Located 230 million light-years away from Earth, the black hole sits at the centre of a galaxy named J0437+2456. Its mass is about three million times that of our Sun.

"We don't expect the majority of supermassive black holes to be moving; they're usually content to just sit around," says Dominic Pesce, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics who led the study. "They're just so heavy that it's tough to get them going. Consider how much more difficult it is to kick a bowling ball into motion than it is to kick a soccer ball — realizing that in this case, the 'bowling ball' is several million times the mass of our Sun. That’s going to require a pretty mighty kick."

Pesce and his collaborators have been working to observe this rare occurrence for the last five years by comparing the velocities of supermassive black holes and galaxies.

"We asked: Are the velocities of the black holes the same as the velocities of the galaxies they reside in?" he explains. "We expect them to have the same velocity. If they don't, that implies the black hole has been disturbed."

Using follow-up observations with the Arecibo and Gemini Observatories, the team has now confirmed their initial findings. The supermassive black hole is moving with a speed of about 110,000 miles per hour inside the galaxy J0437+2456.

But what's causing the motion is not known. The team suspects there are two possibilities.

"We may be observing the aftermath of two supermassive black holes merging," says Jim Condon, a radio astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory who was involved in the study. "The result of such a merger can cause the newborn black hole to recoil, and we may be watching it in the act of recoiling or as it settles down again."

But there's another, perhaps even more exciting possibility: the black hole may be part of a binary system.

"Despite every expectation that they really ought to be out there in some abundance, scientists have had a hard time identifying clear examples of binary supermassive black holes," Pesce says. "What we could be seeing in the galaxy J0437+2456 is one of the black holes in such a pair, with the other remaining hidden to our radio observations because of its lack of maser emission."

Further observations, however, will ultimately be needed to pin down the true cause of this supermassive black hole's unusual motion. 
&nbsp;

Astronomers have detected a ''restless'' supermassive blackhole wandering in space, in a recent study. The research published in the Astrophysical Journal was conducted by scientists at the Center for Astrophysics: Harvard and Smithsonian.

Astronomers have detected a ''restless'' supermassive blackhole wandering in space, in a recent study. The research published in the Astrophysical Journal was conducted by scientists at the Center for Astrophysics: Harvard and Smithsonian. For their search, the team initially surveyed 10 distant galaxies and the supermassive black holes at their cores. They specifically studied black holes that contained water within their accretion disks — the spiral structures that spin inward towards the black hole. As the water orbits around the black hole, it produces a laser-like beam of radio light known as a maser. When studied with a combined network of radio antennas using a technique known as very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), masers can help measure a black hole's velocity very precisely, Pesce says. The technique helped the team determine that nine of the 10 supermassive black holes were at rest—but one stood out and seemed to be in motion. Located 230 million light-years away from Earth, the black hole sits at the centre of a galaxy named J0437+2456. Its mass is about three million times that of our Sun. "We don't expect the majority of supermassive black holes to be moving; they're usually content to just sit around," says Dominic Pesce, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics who led the study. "They're just so heavy that it's tough to get them going. Consider how much more difficult it is to kick a bowling ball into motion than it is to kick a soccer ball — realizing that in this case, the 'bowling ball' is several million times the mass of our Sun. That’s going to require a pretty mighty kick." Pesce and his collaborators have been working to observe this rare occurrence for the last five years by comparing the velocities of supermassive black holes and galaxies. "We asked: Are the velocities of the black holes the same as the velocities of the galaxies they reside in?" he explains. "We expect them to have the same velocity. If they don't, that implies the black hole has been disturbed." Using follow-up observations with the Arecibo and Gemini Observatories, the team has now confirmed their initial findings. The supermassive black hole is moving with a speed of about 110,000 miles per hour inside the galaxy J0437+2456. But what's causing the motion is not known. The team suspects there are two possibilities. "We may be observing the aftermath of two supermassive black holes merging," says Jim Condon, a radio astronomer at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory who was involved in the study. "The result of such a merger can cause the newborn black hole to recoil, and we may be watching it in the act of recoiling or as it settles down again." But there's another, perhaps even more exciting possibility: the black hole may be part of a binary system. "Despite every expectation that they really ought to be out there in some abundance, scientists have had a hard time identifying clear examples of binary supermassive black holes," Pesce says. "What we could be seeing in the galaxy J0437+2456 is one of the black holes in such a pair, with the other remaining hidden to our radio observations because of its lack of maser emission." Further observations, however, will ultimately be needed to pin down the true cause of this supermassive black hole's unusual motion.

Astronomers detect 'restless' supermassive blackhole wandering in space

Taiwan's de facto embassy in Myanmar said on Monday that it has advised&nbsp;Taiwanese companies operating in the country to fly the island's flag and hang signs stating they are from&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;to avoid being confused with China, after Chinese-financed factories were set ablaze.

It comes after several&nbsp;staff members of&nbsp;China's embassy were injured and trapped in arson attacks on Sunday by unidentified assailants on garment factories in the Yangon suburb of Hlaingthaya, and that it had called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-declares-martial-law-in-yangon-townships-amid-protests-370458" hreflang="en">Myanmar declares martial law in Yangon townships amid protests</a>

China is viewed as being supportive of the military junta that took power in Myanmar, overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Taiwan&nbsp;is home to a large Sino-Burmese population and there are close cultural and business links.

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Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said on Monday only one&nbsp;Taiwanese company was caught up in the violence, with 10 of its citizens trapped inside the premises though they were safe.

It said&nbsp;Taiwan's representative office in the country had got in touch with&nbsp;Taiwanese firms after receiving reports of the attacks on Chinese-invested firms.

The office "suggested&nbsp;Taiwanese businesspeople hang signs in Burmese reading 'Taiwanese company' at their factories and to hang our country's national flag, and explain to local workers and neighbours they are a&nbsp;Taiwanese factory, to avoid outsiders getting confused and misjudging".

Taiwanese firms in Southeast Asia have been confused for Chinese ones in protests before, including in 2014 when thousands of Vietnamese set fire to foreign factories in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam.

China claims democratic&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;as its own territory. Taipei maintains no official relations with Myanmar, which formally considers the island part of China.

Separately, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Huang Tien-mu told reporters in Taipei that&nbsp;Taiwanese banks in Myanmar were operating as normal.

Three&nbsp;Taiwanese banks have branches in the country - Cathay United Bank, Mega International Commercial Bank and E.Sun Commercial Bank.

Taiwan's de facto embassy in Myanmar said on Monday that it has advised Taiwanese companies operating in the country to fly the island's flag and hang signs stating they are from Taiwan to avoid being confused with China, after Chinese-financed factories were set ablaze.

Taiwan's de facto embassy in Myanmar said on Monday that it has advised Taiwanese companies operating in the country to fly the island's flag and hang signs stating they are from Taiwan to avoid being confused with China, after Chinese-financed factories were set ablaze. It comes after several staff members of China's embassy were injured and trapped in arson attacks on Sunday by unidentified assailants on garment factories in the Yangon suburb of Hlaingthaya, and that it had called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens. Also read: Myanmar declares martial law in Yangon townships amid protests China is viewed as being supportive of the military junta that took power in Myanmar, overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Taiwan is home to a large Sino-Burmese population and there are close cultural and business links. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said on Monday only one Taiwanese company was caught up in the violence, with 10 of its citizens trapped inside the premises though they were safe. It said Taiwan's representative office in the country had got in touch with Taiwanese firms after receiving reports of the attacks on Chinese-invested firms. The office "suggested Taiwanese businesspeople hang signs in Burmese reading 'Taiwanese company' at their factories and to hang our country's national flag, and explain to local workers and neighbours they are a Taiwanese factory, to avoid outsiders getting confused and misjudging". Taiwanese firms in Southeast Asia have been confused for Chinese ones in protests before, including in 2014 when thousands of Vietnamese set fire to foreign factories in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam. China claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory. Taipei maintains no official relations with Myanmar, which formally considers the island part of China. Separately, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Huang Tien-mu told reporters in Taipei that Taiwanese banks in Myanmar were operating as normal. Three Taiwanese banks have branches in the country - Cathay United Bank, Mega International Commercial Bank and E.Sun Commercial Bank.

Taiwan advises firms in Myanmar to fly flags, hand signs to distinguish from China

Researchers have peered inside a human cell for the first time to look at a 3D structure that is responsible for the regulation of gene expression

The study was published in the journal Science was conducted by scientists at Northwestern University.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientists-discover-natural-protein-that-stops-allergies-and-autoimmune-conditions-369741" hreflang="en">Scientists discover natural protein that stops allergies and autoimmune conditions</a>

This marks the first time the human Mediator complex has been visualised in 3D in the human cell. Called the Mediator-bound pre-initiation complex (Med-PIC), the structure is a key player in determining which genes are activated and which are suppressed.&nbsp;

The mediator helps position the rest of the complex -- RNA polymerase II and the general transcription factors -- at the beginning of genes that the cell wants to transcribe.

The researchers visualised the complex in high resolution using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), enabling them to better understand how it works.&nbsp;

As this complex plays a role in many diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, HIV and metabolic disorders, researchers'&nbsp;new understanding of its structure could potentially be leveraged to treat disease.

"This machine is so basic to every branch of modern molecular biology in the context of gene expression," said Northwestern's Yuan He, senior author of the study.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientists-identify-surprising-similarities-between-humans-and-strange-creatures-from-550-million-years-ago-369169" hreflang="en">Scientists identify surprising similarities between humans and strange creatures from 550 million years ago</a>

Yuan added, "Visualising the structure in 3D will help us answer basic biological questions, such as how DNA is copied to RNA."

''Seeing this structure allows us to understand how it works," added Ryan Abdella, the paper's co-first author.

Abdella further said, "It`s like taking apart a common household appliance to see how everything fits together.&nbsp;

Now we can understand how the proteins in the complex come together to perform their function.

"He is an assistant professor of molecular biosciences in Northwestern`s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Abdella and Anna Talyzina, both graduate students in the He lab, are co-first authors of the paper.

Famed biochemist Roger Kornberg discovered the Mediator complex in yeast in 1990, a project for which he won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. But Mediator comprises daunting 26 subunits -- 56 total when combined with the pre-initiation complex -- it`s taken researchers until now to obtain high-resolution images of the human version.

"It`s a technically quite challenging project," Yuan He said."These complexes are scarce. It takes hundreds of litres of human cells, which are very hard to grow, to obtain small amounts of the protein complexes."

A breakthrough came when his team put the sample on a single layer of graphene oxide. By providing this support, the graphene sheet minimised the amount of sample needed for imaging. And compared to the typical support used -- amorphous carbon -- graphene improved the signal-to-noise ratio for higher-resolution imaging.

After preparing the sample, the team used cryo-EM, a relatively new technique that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, to determine the 3D shape of proteins, which are often thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair.&nbsp;

The technique works by blasting a stream of electrons at a flash-frozen sample to take many 2D images. For this study, his team captured hundreds of thousands of images of the Med-PIC complex. They then used computational methods to reconstruct a 3D image.

"Solving this complex was like assembling a puzzle," Talyzina said."Some of those subunits were already known from other experiments, but we had no idea how the pieces assembled together or interacted with each other. With our final structure, we were finally able to see this whole complex and understand its organisation," Talyzina added.

The resulting image shows the Med-PIC complex as a flat, elongated structure, measuring 45 nanometers in length. The researchers also were surprised to discover that the Mediator moves relative to the rest of the complex, binding to RNA polymerase II at a hinge point.

"Mediator moves like a pendulum. Next, we want to understand what this flexibility means. We think it might have an impact on the activity of a key enzyme within the complex," Abdella concluded.&nbsp;

Researchers have peered inside a human cell for the first time to look at a 3D structure that is responsible for the regulation of gene expression The study was published in the journal Science was conducted by scientists at Northwestern University.

Researchers have peered inside a human cell for the first time to look at a 3D structure that is responsible for the regulation of gene expression The study was published in the journal Science was conducted by scientists at Northwestern University. Also read: Scientists discover natural protein that stops allergies and autoimmune conditions This marks the first time the human Mediator complex has been visualised in 3D in the human cell. Called the Mediator-bound pre-initiation complex (Med-PIC), the structure is a key player in determining which genes are activated and which are suppressed. The mediator helps position the rest of the complex -- RNA polymerase II and the general transcription factors -- at the beginning of genes that the cell wants to transcribe. The researchers visualised the complex in high resolution using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), enabling them to better understand how it works. As this complex plays a role in many diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, HIV and metabolic disorders, researchers' new understanding of its structure could potentially be leveraged to treat disease. "This machine is so basic to every branch of modern molecular biology in the context of gene expression," said Northwestern's Yuan He, senior author of the study. Also read: Scientists identify surprising similarities between humans and strange creatures from 550 million years ago Yuan added, "Visualising the structure in 3D will help us answer basic biological questions, such as how DNA is copied to RNA." ''Seeing this structure allows us to understand how it works," added Ryan Abdella, the paper's co-first author. Abdella further said, "It`s like taking apart a common household appliance to see how everything fits together. Now we can understand how the proteins in the complex come together to perform their function. "He is an assistant professor of molecular biosciences in Northwestern`s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Abdella and Anna Talyzina, both graduate students in the He lab, are co-first authors of the paper. Famed biochemist Roger Kornberg discovered the Mediator complex in yeast in 1990, a project for which he won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. But Mediator comprises daunting 26 subunits -- 56 total when combined with the pre-initiation complex -- it`s taken researchers until now to obtain high-resolution images of the human version. "It`s a technically quite challenging project," Yuan He said."These complexes are scarce. It takes hundreds of litres of human cells, which are very hard to grow, to obtain small amounts of the protein complexes." A breakthrough came when his team put the sample on a single layer of graphene oxide. By providing this support, the graphene sheet minimised the amount of sample needed for imaging. And compared to the typical support used -- amorphous carbon -- graphene improved the signal-to-noise ratio for higher-resolution imaging. After preparing the sample, the team used cryo-EM, a relatively new technique that won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, to determine the 3D shape of proteins, which are often thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. The technique works by blasting a stream of electrons at a flash-frozen sample to take many 2D images. For this study, his team captured hundreds of thousands of images of the Med-PIC complex. They then used computational methods to reconstruct a 3D image. "Solving this complex was like assembling a puzzle," Talyzina said."Some of those subunits were already known from other experiments, but we had no idea how the pieces assembled together or interacted with each other. With our final structure, we were finally able to see this whole complex and understand its organisation," Talyzina added. The resulting image shows the Med-PIC complex as a flat, elongated structure, measuring 45 nanometers in length. The researchers also were surprised to discover that the Mediator moves relative to the rest of the complex, binding to RNA polymerase II at a hinge point. "Mediator moves like a pendulum. Next, we want to understand what this flexibility means. We think it might have an impact on the activity of a key enzyme within the complex," Abdella concluded.

Scientists discover 3D structure responsible for controlling gene expression

Twitter users all across the world&nbsp;who used the word "Memphis" found themselves temporarily locked out of their accounts at the weekend because of a bizarre bug.

Several users shared screenshots showing messages from Twitter saying their account was being limited for violating the platform's rules after they had tweeted a message which included the word "Memphis."

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey&nbsp;acknowledged the error and said it had been fixed.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A number of accounts that Tweeted the word “Memphis” were temporarily limited due to a bug. It’s been fixed and the accounts have now been restored. We’re sorry this happened.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) <a href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1371235587718582274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

Reports of the bug emerged after some soccer fans noticed that posts mentioning Olympique Lyonnais player Memphis Depay were being blocked.

The French soccer club tweeted a picture of their Dutch forward with the message: "Hey, @Twitter -- can we talk about him yet?"

Others joined in with jokes about the apparent taboo.

"When bots flood our comments with 'say the m word'," NBA team the Memphis Grizzlies tweeted with a video of a player blocking a shot.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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when bots flood our comments with "say the m word" <a href="https://t.co/X1qgsIRmm9">pic.twitter.com/X1qgsIRmm9</a>
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) <a href="https://twitter.com/memgrizz/status/1371169847879606274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Some users expressed mock concern about the taboo covering the Tennessee home of rock'n'roll where Elvis Presley grew up.

Others referenced the Monty Python comedy "Life of Brian," with lawyer George Conway, a vocal Donald Trump critic, linking to the scene where a man is about to be stoned for saying the word "Jehovah."

"A number of accounts that Tweeted the word 'Memphis' were temporarily limited due to a bug," Twitter Support said on Sunday.

"It's been fixed and the accounts have now been restored. We're sorry this happened."

Some users noted that Twitter was able to ban a specific term, albeit inadvertently, and called for it to better address abuse on the platform.

"Hello Twitter, Glad you got that fixed. Now ban the nazis, please," one user tweeted.

Twitter users all across the world who used the word "Memphis" found themselves temporarily locked out of their accounts at the weekend because of a bizarre bug.

Twitter users all across the world who used the word "Memphis" found themselves temporarily locked out of their accounts at the weekend because of a bizarre bug. Several users shared screenshots showing messages from Twitter saying their account was being limited for violating the platform's rules after they had tweeted a message which included the word "Memphis." Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged the error and said it had been fixed. A number of accounts that Tweeted the word “Memphis” were temporarily limited due to a bug. It’s been fixed and the accounts have now been restored. We’re sorry this happened. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) March 14, 2021 × Reports of the bug emerged after some soccer fans noticed that posts mentioning Olympique Lyonnais player Memphis Depay were being blocked. The French soccer club tweeted a picture of their Dutch forward with the message: "Hey, @Twitter -- can we talk about him yet?" Others joined in with jokes about the apparent taboo. "When bots flood our comments with 'say the m word'," NBA team the Memphis Grizzlies tweeted with a video of a player blocking a shot. when bots flood our comments with "say the m word" pic.twitter.com/X1qgsIRmm9 — Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) March 14, 2021 × Some users expressed mock concern about the taboo covering the Tennessee home of rock'n'roll where Elvis Presley grew up. Others referenced the Monty Python comedy "Life of Brian," with lawyer George Conway, a vocal Donald Trump critic, linking to the scene where a man is about to be stoned for saying the word "Jehovah." "A number of accounts that Tweeted the word 'Memphis' were temporarily limited due to a bug," Twitter Support said on Sunday. "It's been fixed and the accounts have now been restored. We're sorry this happened." Some users noted that Twitter was able to ban a specific term, albeit inadvertently, and called for it to better address abuse on the platform. "Hello Twitter, Glad you got that fixed. Now ban the nazis, please," one user tweeted.

Twitter users experiencing bizarre bug banning users for mentioning 'Memphis'

Israel on Sunday unveiled a laser-guided mortar system that it said could reduce civilian collateral damage, as the Jewish state faces an International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes.

The "Iron Sting" system, developed by the Israeli military with local firm Elbit Systems, will use laser and GPS technology to provide maximal accuracy to 120mm mortar rounds, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The system will "contend with enemies hidden within civilian, urban environments while meeting the legal and moral standards set by the State of Israel", Defence Minister Benny Gantz said in the statement.

The "Iron Sting", which had been in development for years, had successfully been tested in southern Israel ahead of production and supply to the Israeli army, the ministry said.

"We believe that we have been able to develop an efficient solution that enables us to increase precision and reduce collateral damage," Elbit's land division manager Udi Vered said in the defence ministry statement.&nbsp;

The announcement comes less than two weeks after the ICC opened a formal probe into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, with the investigation focusing on the 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip.

Around 2,250 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the fighting in the densely populated enclave.

Israel has fought three wars with Hamas since 2008 and sporadic rockets and other incendiary devices fired from Gaza still land inside the Jewish state.

Israel also periodically exchanges fire with neighbouring Lebanon's Hezbollah movement -- backed by arch-foe Iran -- and targets "pro-Iranian" forces engaged in the conflict in Syria.

Israel on Sunday unveiled a laser-guided mortar system that it said could reduce civilian collateral damage, as the Jewish state faces an International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes.

Israel on Sunday unveiled a laser-guided mortar system that it said could reduce civilian collateral damage, as the Jewish state faces an International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes. The "Iron Sting" system, developed by the Israeli military with local firm Elbit Systems, will use laser and GPS technology to provide maximal accuracy to 120mm mortar rounds, the defence ministry said in a statement. The system will "contend with enemies hidden within civilian, urban environments while meeting the legal and moral standards set by the State of Israel", Defence Minister Benny Gantz said in the statement. The "Iron Sting", which had been in development for years, had successfully been tested in southern Israel ahead of production and supply to the Israeli army, the ministry said. "We believe that we have been able to develop an efficient solution that enables us to increase precision and reduce collateral damage," Elbit's land division manager Udi Vered said in the defence ministry statement. The announcement comes less than two weeks after the ICC opened a formal probe into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories, with the investigation focusing on the 2014 conflict between Israel and Hamas Islamist militants in the Gaza Strip. Around 2,250 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the fighting in the densely populated enclave. Israel has fought three wars with Hamas since 2008 and sporadic rockets and other incendiary devices fired from Gaza still land inside the Jewish state. Israel also periodically exchanges fire with neighbouring Lebanon's Hezbollah movement -- backed by arch-foe Iran -- and targets "pro-Iranian" forces engaged in the conflict in Syria.

Israel unveils laser-guided 'precision' mortar system as ICC probes possible war crimes

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Zee News Rajasthan

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Vyomica Berry

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